


Yellow Eagle Down

by Jesi_Ki_Kage



Category: Captain Marvel (2019), Power Rangers, Power Rangers Wild Force
Genre: Angst, Background Relationships, Canonical Character Death, F/F, Gen, Implied Relationships, One Shot, Post-Series Pre-Movie, Short One Shot, outside character learning of canon events, outsider point of view
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-08
Updated: 2019-11-08
Packaged: 2021-02-01 03:24:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21355576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jesi_Ki_Kage/pseuds/Jesi_Ki_Kage
Summary: Military pilot and ex-Power Ranger Taylor Earhardt is called on to investigate the crash of a Top Secret experimental aircraft.a.k.a.Two years really wasn’t enough time to forget you loved someone.
Kudos: 13





	Yellow Eagle Down

**Author's Note:**

> unbetad. Will eventually be a series of one-shots as ideas come. Eventual triad. Blame auwana and jaguarspot.
> 
> on tumblr @standinshadowedsilence

Part 1: Yellow Eagle Down

The lights flicked on as Taylor’s bag thunked into the corner. Moments later she was sprawled across the bed in her small apartment. It took several heartbeats for her to realize her bed was lacking it’s bedding. With a groan she rolled over and sat up.

Her bed sheets were still in the wash from where she left them after getting the phone call last Thursday. 

Eleven days ago.

As the only Ranger the military both knew of and owned, and the one with pilot training, she’d been called on to take part in a Crash Investigation Board. A fatal crash for a ground-breaking test plane. A test plane that had been shot down.

The remains of the wreck had been blown up after the crash. Still, it was clear from inspecting what they could that the craft had indeed been shot down. Shot and knocked into a tree, breaking into two parts before finally crashing into the beach. While it was a little harder to tell as time wore on, there was even a dust ring from the vertical take off of another ship.

The only thing she didn’t learn was the identity of the two pilots.

The black box had been removed in the 39 hours it had taken to get the team together and on sight. Removed, not destroyed, although the frame where it sat was definitely damaged. Any questions after the identities of the pilot and co-pilot were stonewalled. Walled behind Non-Disclosure Agreements and Need-to-Know.

In the end she learned the pilot’s identity by chance.

Their last day there she hit the gym and found her usual locker taken. Moving further into the locker room for the first time she passed the wall of lockers reserved for those assigned to Pegasus. Most of the way down the line is a locker covered in pictures. 

A memorial.

Front and center was the photo of a burned piano.

A pilot’s memorial.

The name tag on the locker read Carol Danvers.

* * *

Closing her eyes Taylor let the back of her head rest against the cool magnolium of the wall across from the laundry closet. She’d been in shock the rest of that day. Thankfully, not much work had been left beyond her portion of the report. As that wasn’t due for 30 days no one really noticed that she was out of it. Nor did they notice when she left billeting that night in search of a photo print place.

Leaving the base in the prelight dawn the next morning - yesterday now - she’d been exhausted.

But at least she’d gotten to pay her respects.

Taking a deep breath Taylor closed her eyes as she remembered how she’d gone back to the locker room. Once there she’d realized she’d have to place her picture partially onto one of the neighboring lockers. Looking at the names of said lockers she'd felt her jaw drop as her fingers went slack.

Maria Rambaeu.

She should have known, should have connected the dots when she first saw Carol’s name.

She knew the two had requested dual assignment. She knew the two had both been picked for a closed door assignment. She knew the two had stayed together, not backed out like she had.

She just hadn’t made the connection in the 18 hours since finding out about Carol.

It’d been with shaking hands that she picked up the picture and put a pen to the back.  _ I’m sorry _ , followed by her email and landline number. Placing the picture part-way onto Maria’s locker had been an easy choice.

The picture was from the summer break before their senior year at the Academy. It was from before they went to pilot training. From before Monica had been born. From before Taylor had started pulling away.

The dryer buzzer caused a flinch.

Opening her eyes Taylor tried to focus through the gathered moisture on the machine in front of her. Blinking rapidly, she tried to stand only to discover her legs had started going numb. And that she was clutching something in her fist.

A small yellow marble.

A sardonic chuckle escaped her as she slumped back onto the floor.

She hadn’t seen or spoken to either of them in two years, yet her she was, a crying mess on the floor.

Two years really wasn’t enough time to forget you loved someone.

* * *


End file.
